Controversy in Córdoba

Whilst researching an article for QatarVisitor.com in Spain John finds outrageous lies in an attempt by Spanish Catholics to defend their destruction of an Islamic mosque famed for its beauty and to cast doubts on the tolerance and achievements of a great era in Islamic history.

When you visit the Grand Mosque in Córdoba, you are presented with a leaflet, ostensibly a tourist guide. However, on reading it, I found it was a blatant piece of propaganda for the Catholic Church's vandalism carried out on the Mosque.

Now, I would not wish to visit the sins of the father on the son, but there is no trace of repentance for the destruction of the work of art that the Mosque undoubtedly was.

Questionable "facts"

One statement that really annoyed me was:

"It is a historical fact that the basilica of San Vicente was expropriated and destroyed in order to build what would later be the Mosque, a reality that questions the theme of tolerance that was supposedly cultivated in the Córdoba of the moment."

Now, according to my research, the Muslims and Christians shared the original building for around fifty years and then the Muslims bought the Christian's half from them in order to build the Mosque. That seems reasonably tolerant to me.

Comparative tolerance

If we are talking about tolerance, lets consider a few more facts. It is well known from historical documents that the Muslims encouraged other races and religions to join in the great cultural movement that was afoot in Córdoba during its Islamic heyday and Christian and Jewish scholars in the University there produced important works.

On the other hand, following the reconquista, "Los Reyes Católicos" expelled all Muslims and Jews who would not convert, conveniently allowing them to top up their treasury with any unsold property left behind.

They also restored the Inquisition, which was responsible for around 12,000 deaths of innocent people, who were tortured until they "confessed" and then burnt alive at the stake. Such tolerance! This time the Catholic Church got its hands on the property of the deceased, allowing it to increase its already considerable wealth and its priests to live in luxury while the peasants starved.

Another Kingly Cock-up!

Apart from the idiot King Carlos III, who gave permission for the destruction of the Mosque without having seen it and then too late realising his error (not mentioned in the Catholic leaflet - how strange), the religiously fanatical Ferdinand (who was from a Jewish background - you know what they say about converts being the worst) and Isabel (the Catholic Monarchs) gave huge tracts of land to their supporters of nobility and left the peasants with insufficient to scratch a living and thus caused a problem in Andalucía which lasted until recent times.

Many of these land owners were absentee landlords and the once fertile, food producing land was left to be grazed by sheep and Spain had to import grain as a result.

The controversy continues.

In April 2010, six Muslims entered the Mosque and started to pray. This horrifying act was quickly jumped on by the security guards and four of the Muslims left quietly. The other two refused, the police were called and they were arrested.

One of the diocesan priests wrote a newspaper article to defend the action. The message was quite clear, this is a Catholic Cathedral, we won't allow people of other faiths to pray here. Tolerance?

As one newspaper cartoon put it, "You can't pray here, this is a church".

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Virgin Comes to Qatar (Again!)

Branson rode into Doha on a jetski yesterday, shooting out a plume of red and white smoke (from the jet-ski, not Branson!), heralding yet another British company's move into the country.

In what must be a bit of a blow for Vodafone, Virgin Mobile has brokered an exclusive deal with Qtel to offer its prepaid mobile phone service.

In some ways, Virgin seems like more of a match for Vodafone in Qatar. I have visited Vodafone's offices, and they are light, colourful and very modern, whereas one imagines Qtel to be a bit of a dinosaur.

But Virgin was the modern challenger to Vodafone in the UK, and in Qatar Vodafone have spurred on Qtel to be far sharper than they used to be, at least in regards to marketing.

Vodafone will certainly need their wits about them now. In the UK Virgin Mobile entered a crowded market and managed to shake it up simply by offering a simple and easy to understand pricing model when every other competitor was using incredibly complicated ones.

An essential element of the company - which is the fastest growing in Virgin group - is the brand, one which is already established here with Virgin Megastore in Villagio.

Virgin is also in Qatar with its cord-blood bank, as Shabina Khatri investigated last year in Qatar's Futuristic Cord Blood Bank.


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Art Exhibition at Yama Yoga Studios

Cecilia Francisco, the Qatar based Canadian artist, is holding an exhibition of her work at the Yama Yoga Studios, which is located at Garvey’s complex in Al Aziziya, Doha.


Opening on 27 May 2010 at 7 p.m., the exhibition will run to 06 June 2010.

The exhibition, which will be entitled Duality, will feature 17 acrylic and mixed media paintings which will represent both her feelings for her new home Qatar and her longing for her home country Canada.

You can view a selection of Cecilia's images on her website: ceciliafrancisco.com, while more information about the exhibition can be found on her blog here.

Harrods in Qatar?

So, Qatar bought Harrods.

At a cool one point five billion it wasn't cheap - until you consider the potential of the brand in the Middle East.

It hits a number of points with the Qataris: it has huge brand awareness in the area, it's got investment potential to help them achieve their target of reducing oil dependency, and it has to be a major boost to their prestige.

The question my colleagues are bandying around at work now is whether there will be a branch of Harrods in Qatar. (And I think the answer is probably yes.)

Qataris abroad

Many Qatars go abroad with one objective in mind - to shop.

One lady told me that when she went to London and Paris she would even take her cook with here. She would stay at her apartment in each city and always eat at home.

One wonders if the attraction of travelling would diminish as shopping around the world grows ever more homogenous.

Already you can see most big British brands in Villagio.

Although, with heat in the summer hitting 50 degrees, I don't think British retailers need to worry just yet.


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Image above by SoNewFangled

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Beauty of the Desert People

In our latest article on the website, Yousra Samir finds out how the Qatari people managed to keep clean, beautiful and fragrant in a time before Qatar had running water and imported fragrances.

It may now have been an easy task, but it was one which the Qataris were able to achieve - with a bit of help from nature!

For the full fascinating article head over to the website and check out Desert Beauty.

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Qatar's New Football Stadiums

Qatar's World Cup Bid

Also see: World Cup Bid Update: Qatar is not fooling around!

Qatar's world cup bid is heating up, and after talking to the editor of our sister site Soccerphile it looks as they have a real chance of winning this time.

"There's never been a world cup in the Middle East, and the powers that be think it would be a good idea," he told me.

He may be correct, with no less than FIFA president stating that the Arab World deserves a world cup.

Stadiums

In preparation for their bid, Qatar have announced the construction of three futuristic new stadiums, and a visually spectacular preview of what they will look like (see movie below).

The new stadiums will be built in Al Shamal , in the North of Qatar close to Al Ruweis, in Al Khor and in Al Wakra.

The country also plans to rebuild the stadiums in Al Gahraffa and Al Rayyan.

The plans for the stadiums followed last years announcement that Qatar would build the world's first underground football stadium to accommodate 60,000 spectators.

Futuristic

The new stadiums will be the first airconditioned outside stadiums - but not at a sacrifice to the environment.

Utilising solar power, carbon zero cooling equipment will ensure that the temperature is never more than 27 degreess celsius.

With the money to finance the project, the ambition and drive to carry it through and support from FIFA the country could very well become the first in the Arab World to host a world cup.

Qatar Stadium's Movie



Related posts and articles:

World Cup 2022 Jobs

Qatar Unveils Stunning 2022 Stadiums (The Gulf Blog)

Qatar's Cooling Fields (Taragana Blog)

Qatar Football: An overview of football in Qatar

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Qatar Turtles

In her latest article on Qatar Nature, Qatar naturalist and author Fran Gillespie dives into the the fascinating world of the Qatar turtle - a creature which is born on the shores of Qatar, but only returns to lay eggs after full maturity some 45 years later.


The journey to this maturity is fraught with danger, from foxes and seagulls to nets and plastic bags that can be mistaken for the jelly fish turtles like to eat. But at least one danger has been removed - in Qatar rangers protect the turtles from human interference and egg stealing.

For the full story see Qatar's Marine Turtles.

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Those Qatar Traffic Lights

Does anyone else hate those flashing amber traffic lights in Qatar?

If you are not in Qatar, a quick background would be handy.

Qatar used to have lots of roundabouts.

On the advice of British traffic police (who could see that many drivers in Qatar either did not know the rules of roundabouts or know them and ignored them) the government has been slowly pulling up the roundabouts and replacing them with traffic lights.

Where the roundabouts remain, they are being equipped with traffic lights.

But on some traffic lights, they have a special flashing amber lights which remains of for several minutes. This allows you to go if there is a car coming.

But they can change at any second.

This leaves you with the horrible situation of trying to watch the amber lights while at the same time as watching the traffic coming from your left. A situation which involves a lot of head whipping.

Of course, miss a second's opportunity and you will be deafened by a cacaphony of horns.

Go after a red light and you could face a QAR6000 fine - and points on your licence.

(The best way to deal with this is to get a passenger to watch the lights while you watch the oncoming traffic. But it only works if you have a passenger!)

Does this bug you too?

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IPADs for Qatar

IPADS are now available for Qatar and the rest of the Middle East.

A Qatari friend has set up a website to supply the device to Qatar and the rest of the Gulf.

For details check out Ship My Pad.

Visa On Arrival Extended

As we were hoping, the visa upon arrival has been extended.

The Qatar UK Embassy has a rather confusing message which could mean anything, but the US Embassy states:

"Visa Upon Arrival Has Been Extended Until Further Notice"

You can see the notice here: Qatar Embassy Visa Form.

We checked with the British Embassy's press officer, and was told that the Embassy had heard the plan was under review. Meanwhile, the British embassy website says:

We have been advised by the Government of Qatar that the plan to remove – from 1 May - the provision whereby British passport holders can obtain a visitors visa on arrival in Qatar will not now go ahead. British visitors intending to travel to Qatar may currently apply for a visa on arrival in Qatar.

If you are planning to visit Qatar, please check with your embassy and airline to see if there has been any change in visa regulations - as we have said for years, things can change very rapidly in Qatar.

For more comprehensive information see our page Qatar Visas (which we'll be updating with this information in just a minute!)

Also see: Canceling your Visa

Al Wakra's New Beach

Al Wakra is changing

I took my first visit to Al Wakra in almost a year.

As usual, it's changed.

(Things rarely remain the same for long in Qatar!)

On the main road you can see new shops - a pizza hut, a fast food joint.

But it's the beach area where things have really changed.

Beach

Head to the beach area, and where there was rough area, a mangrove swamp and some old ruined buildings, you can now see the construction of old buildings.

(Does that sound strange? Think Souq Waqif. They're new, but they look old.)

The park, sadly, is gone. So are the mangrove swamps, a former haven for birds and a nursery for fish.

The beach, though, looked pretty. The tide was up when we were there, and the beach curved round in a lovely semi-circle leading to a jetty I am sure was not there before.

Dhows, both old and new were pulled up on the beach, but neatly, while old new buildings with coloured door lined up around the side.

Swimming

We swam, as best we could in the shallow water.

You need to be careful. Sharp stones mix with sludge underneath the water. But there's no need to put your feet down.

The water is so salty that you can put your feet up and float without a twitch of your fingers. We did just that, lying on our backs and admiring the clear sky and the declining sun.

Afterwards, I noticed an elderly Qatari couple, the woman veiled, walking along the edge of the beach together in the sunset, dipping their feet in the sea and enjoying the feel of the sea against their bare legs.

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Qatar Living Down?

Update: The site is up again (As soon as I posted this!)

We're trying to update our driving page, and have been having a little debate about tests. We've been told that Westerners have to take tests now, while the updated government website says in Arabic and English that you don't have to.

Before ringing the Ministry of Interior up, I decided to have a quick check on the net. There's an interesting discussion on QatarLiving, but when you click through the website is down.



I hope it's back up soon, but the website has been having problems all week. I have tried several times earlier in the week to post for a friend, but it has not worked.

Competitor

We hope the site is up soon. Some sites see Qatar Living and Qatar Visitor as competitors, but we have different concepts (articles v. user generated content). We get a lot of hits of Qatar Living, and as there are many links from our site to Qatar Living I believe we boost them as well.

Rumours

I've heard rumours that the site is thinking of closing itself down, but I am sceptical. The site has got to be worth a lot of money, so, unless there has been external pressure, the logical option would be to sell rather than shut down the site.

It is also possible they are feeling the pinch, though. Since the recent controvery over Qatar National Day I've seen fewer adverts on the site. They, like us, have google adsense, but with forums the clickthrough rate is lower (per page view) while with thousands of users server costs must be huge.